Indivisible #101 – Making calls!

First you need something to call about…

Every weekday Indivisible Ventura puts out at least one Daily Action call. You can access this information in various ways.

  1. Sign up for our newsletter.
  2. Look at our Facebook page every day.
  3. Look at our website everyday.
  4. Install our mobile app on your smart phone (instructions immediately below)

Our Mobile App is Up and Running! Download it Now to Make your Resistance Even Easier!

We all want to be in the habit of doing our weekly Indivisible Ventura actions. But it’s hard to take down the Trump Agenda if we feel like we’re acting alone.

app

Join us on the Amplify mobile app. We update it every day with our daily calls to action, and you can call members of congress right from the app. You can also see actions taken by other members, and press the “cheer” button to cheer them on.

It’s extremely easy to use:

  1. Install the app for iPhone (http://apple.co/2o8cQAG) or Android (http://bit.ly/2neIpnw)
  2. Press ‘Create New Account‘ to sign up
  3. Enter the Indivisible Ventura invite code: 340-050-206
  4. Take action & cheer others on!

Or just put all the office numbers for your two senators and one congressperson into your phone! Here’s what mine looks like for Dianne Feinstein. (MOC = Member of Congress) Extra credit for doing this for your state senator and assemblyperson too.

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Wait a minute…Why am I calling? 

“Our senators are Democrats. Why do we need to call? Why do we need to call every day?”
Answer: People who agree with your viewpoint are NOT the only ones calling. People who disagree with you will be calling every day too. Multiple times. Our senators keep tallies of the calls. What we want is for them to tell their colleagues that they have a HUGE number of calls against this bill. THAT is our super power.

“Why do I need to call? Why not emails, those nifty new fax services or those bot thingies?”
Answer: Calls are answered by live people and their tally is immediate. Other methods require someone to read through your message and tally it. Later. Maybe. After face-to-face meetings and town halls, phone calls are our most powerful option. If calling makes you nervous, check out our discussion on it below.

“Why just my own senators? Why can’t I call all the GOP senators who are voting for this horrible thing?”
Answer: There are two forms of power for politicians. Money and votes. Unless you can offer a substantial donation to their re-election campaigns, the only thing you’ve got is your vote. And if it’s not your own senator, you don’t even have that. Their interns on the phone will be very nice, but they will not tally your calls or email.

“But our people aren’t on the committee that’s working on this bill. Logically, don’t those legislators who are on the committee have to represent us too?”
Answer: No. No, they don’t. (Unless you are giving them a huge campaign donation. See above.) Try this thought experiment… Do you see Mitch McConnell really trying to fairly represent the wishes of progressive Californians while he sits in committees? No, neither do I. While the bill is being kicked around in the committee, start calling your own legislators to tell them what you’d like them to do if or when it hits the floor for a full vote. Or do what is suggested below.

“So how do we reach those GOP senators?”
Answer: Through your family and friends who live in their states. These ten states are particularly important as their Senators will be key to the success of failure or the GOP’s proposal: Alaska, West Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkasas.  See the state-specific stats here: https://www.trumpcareten.org
Here are all the phone #’s they’ll need: tinyurl.com/make-your-family-call-too

OK, so what do I do? What do I say?

We provide sample scripts with every call action. You only have to tell the intern answering the phone what position you want the legislator to take. You don’t have to lecture or argue with them. They are just taking a tally.

Tips for Calling Congress For People who hate to Call Anybody, Let Alone Congress, or If You’re New to This Calling Thing…

(from Lauren O’Neal)
“If you know me, you know I hate talking on the phone more than anything, so if I can do it, you can do it too. It’s actually pretty easy as far as phone calls go, for those of you who also have phone anxiety. You just call, a staffer answers, you read your script, the staffer says they’ll pass the info along, the end. If you’re super nervous, read the script out loud first to practice. Also you can squeeze your eyes shut or curl up in the fetal position or whatever—they can’t see you!”

Here’s the Phone #’s for California’s Senators.
Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
Senator Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Here’s the Phone #’s for California’s Representatives in the VTA and SB areas.
(Check which one is your District Representative)
Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Here’s the Phone #’s for our California Reps. for State issues
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson: SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940 http://sd19.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail
Assemblyperson Monique Limón: (CA-37): SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700

Here’s the link for everybody’s else’s senators and reps.: http://www.phoneyourrep.com

It usually only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to do a round of these phone calls. Of course, phone calls from constituents are not the most powerful political tool in the world, but they do have an effect when there are a lot of them —and they listen when there are a lot of them.

Plus taking 10 minutes out of your day to do it is not that much effort when you consider we’re facing 23 million being uninsured , innumerable medical bankruptcies and an estimated 25,000-44,000 deaths a year.

  • Aside from in-person meetings at town halls and so forth, phone calls are the most effective form of communicating with your members of Congress, because phone calls can’t be ignored. Letters, emails, and social-media posts don’t count for much. Feel free to write/email/post on social media, but only if you make a phone call as well. (Exception are letters detailing healthcare issues that ACA helped with)
  • You have two senators and one representative. To find out who they are and how to contact them, use Google, text your zip code to 520-200-2223, or check the EXTREMELY comprehensive ContactingCongress.org.
  • Each member of Congress has a DC office as well as one or more local offices in-state. If you have time, call both! If you can only call one, call the office most local to you first. If no one is answering, then call the DC office.
  • Since I’m making a lot of phone calls to these folks, I’ve saved their numbers in my phone—two numbers each, both the local office and the DC office.
  • When you call, they will probably ask you for zip code and possibly your address, to make sure you’re a constituent, so be ready to give those.
  • ​Ask for specific things like “vote for the XYZ Bill,” rather than just saying “oppose Trump.”
  • ​Keep it short. You don’t need to tell the staffer you speak to why you support or oppose something, just that you support or oppose it. They’re just creating a tally of how many people took which position; they won’t pass your convictions or supporting arguments along to your member of Congress.
  • Be very courteous and polite, obviously.
  • For further reading, check out “This is what it’s like answering all those phone calls to Congress” by the communications director for a sitting Congresswoman.